Articles by Michelle Stinnard

The 25,000-square-foot Civic Center in Westlake Village, CA, consists of an 11,000-square-foot city hall, a 10,000-square-foot library and a 1,500-square-foot community meeting room. Designed by the local firm of Gonzalez Goodale Architects as a “contemporary hacienda,” the facility’s architecture merges with the area’s dramatic topography. While the building features a variety of materials, including wood and plaster, the library in particular features Mexican sandstone from Southland Stone USA, Inc. of North Hollywood, CA.

The purpose of the Janelia Farm Research Campus in Loudon County, VA, part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), was to create a unique center where scientists from around the world could work collaboratively to create and exploit the new tools of biomedical science. The 760,000-square-foot building houses laboratories, conference and educational facilities, transient housing and support services, as well as administration and building services, and Italian Basaltina was used as flooring prominently throughout the public spaces located on the ground floor.

Designed by Stephen B. Jacobs Group, PC, and Andi Pepper Interior Design, which also collaborated for the design of the famous Hotel Gansevoort in New York City, the new South Star Condominium complex is a past historical building transformed into the modern future downtown Manhattan condo residences for urban individuals. The condominiums feature a variety of material from local stone suppliers, including granite from Hindustan Granites Inc., and marble supplied by Foro Marble Co.

Christopher J. Grubb, president of Arch-Interiors Design Group, Inc. was recently challenged to transform a private residence, located on Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills of California, from an outdated space to a modern home that reflected the lifestyles and personalities of its owners. In order to meet the client’s request, a total of 2,600 square feet of natural stone was added to several rooms throughout the space.

Located in Downtown Oakland, CA, the facade of the 13,000-square-foot building that now houses the Alta Alliance Bank headquarters was in dire need of a facelift, and locally based RPR Architects came to the rescue in a timely manner. To enhance the outdated look of the exterior space, the architects added a variety of limestone and granite to the exterior facade of the building, and stone was also carried inside.

The 412,000-square-foot Brain and Cognitive Sciences Complex at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Cambridge, MA, campus is considered the world’s largest neuroscience research center. The design team, comprising Goody Clancy of Boston, MA, and lead designer Charles Correa of Mumbai, India, determined early on that the building would be clad in light-colored stone to match with the traditional Indiana limestone typically found on the neo-classical MIT campus.

Whole Foods Market, the world’s largest natural and organic foods supermarket, has opened an 80,000-square-foot landmark store and a 200,000-square-foot office tower in downtown Austin, TX. Locally quarried Antique Lueders limestone from Mezger Enterprises Ltd. of Lampasas, TX, was selected for various exterior elements, and HKS Inc., of Dallas, TX, was hired to carry out the design.

Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo, MI, recently opened a 195,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) facility on its Oakland Drive campus, and SmithGroup, Inc. was hired to carry out the design. The new facility consolidates all WMU Health and Human Services faculty and academic programs into a single learning facility for teaching, research and community-based health and human services activities. Warm cream-colored Mankato Kasota limestone from Mankato Kasota Stone, Inc. of Mankato, MN, was used in a split-faced finish to accent the buildings exterior facade, as well as for interior elements such as columns and walls.

During an informative presentation, Susan Sherry, a natural stone design consultant, discovered Accretia Flooring Accents (AFA), just the company she was looking for to design a large 16-foot marble and granite compass for a private residence in Chattanooga, TN. This element is the centerpiece among the many stone features of the home.

Located in Longwood, FL, just outside of Orlando, Custom Stone Creations serves as a high-end stone fabricator and installer, and is currently one of the largest fabricators for Home Depot in the state of Florida. The company is continually expanding, and has recently added a third CNC machine to its operation.

In this month's issue of Stone World, check out an article on how government agencies are teaming with stone industry professionals to provide safe work environments. Also check out some features on quartz surfacing.